Page 11 - Retail World Tob - May 2020

WOOLWORTHS REWARDS APP ENSURES ‘FULL VALUE’ Woolworths has launched an app it says will make it easier for Woolworths Rewards members to activate bonus point offers, discover personalised specials, and check their points balance on the go. According to Woolworths, the Rewards app will highlight relevant member specials and offers from BWS and Big W as well as Woolworths supermarkets. Members will also be able to use the app to find their closest participating fuel site, to earn points and redeem 4c per litre discount vouchers. “We want to make it easier for our members to get full value from Woolworths Rewards every time they shop with us and our partners,” Woolworths Director of Rewards Hannah Ross said. “We have thousands of products on special every week and the app will showcase personalised offers based on previous shops, to save members time and money. “Importantly, the app also allows members to activate offers and bonus points at the click of a button, making it simpler for members to reach their next redemption even quicker.” To help promote contactless shopping, the Rewards app will offer e-receipts for purchases made in Woolworths supermarkets, and a digital card for convenient in- store scanning. “A growing number of our members want to transact without paper receipts or plastic cards, and we’re pleased the app will support both,” Ms Ross said. “We’ll closely monitor member feedback on the app and look to bring even more exciting features to members in the months ahead.” Woolworths Rewards members have the option to save $10 on their next eligible shop each time their balance hits 2,000 points. Alternatively, they can bank savings for Christmas or convert them to 1,000 Qantas frequent flyer points. Woolworths Rewards is said to have more than 12 million members across Australia. NEWS WOOLIES TEAMS UP WITH BREAD & BUTTER PROJECT The Bread & Butter Project, normally operating as an artisan wholesale bakery, has undertaken a “complete pivot” in its business model to now supply to Woolworths Metro stores directly, after feeling the impacts of COVID-19 with café and restaurant and product distribution disruptions. The bakery, which says it uses 100 per cent of its profits to support training and employment opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers in Sydney, identified a need to expand beyond supplying cafés and workplaces, many of which are currently closed. According to the bakery, the Woolworths arrangement will ensure the organisation can keep its doors open and continue providing high-quality sourdough breads and pastries over the coming months. The Bread & Butter Project Chair Cindy Carpenter says its café and restaurant sales fell by more than half in the second half of March. “While we’ll continue to supply all our valued partners as soon as the current social distancing restrictions are lifted, we’ve also had to make some quick decisions to ensure our business remains operational in the meantime,” she said. “As such, within two weeks we’ve shifted from being a largely wholesale enterprise to becoming much more consumer-facing via online retailers and supermarkets. “We’re very thankful for the backing of Woolworths, which has an interest in refugee employment and responded to our need for more sales by instantly stocking us in 14 of its Metro stores. “They’ve also worked extremely hard on our behalf to provide us with a good shelf presence, because we aren’t a well-known consumer brand as yet.” WOOLWORTHS BOOSTS DELIVERY SERVICE WITH UBER Woolworths has partnered with Uber to offer thousands more weekly home delivery windows for its customers. The new partnership kicked off in North Queensland in late March from three Woolworths stores in Townsville, before expanding to more cities in the following weeks. All grocery orders are placed with Woolworths on its website or app. Woolworths personal shoppers hand- pick online orders for customers in-store, and these are passed on to Uber driver partners to fulfil the delivery. Orders, delivered the next day, are capped at 40 items. Woolworths Director of E-Commerce Annette Karantoni says demand for the retailer’s home delivery service has grown at an “unprecedented rate” across Australia in recent months. “As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, it’s vital we keep scaling our delivery capacity to meet the essential needs of our communities,” she said. “We see partnerships as an integral part of this effort.” MAY, 2020 RETAIL WORLD 9